"The whole bailout process was flawed, and it was bad government, and it should have never happened," Clark said.

As for Harmer's bonus and severance, "Whatever David was paid by JPMorgan came from JPMorgan," and not taxpayers, "because it was a very healthy financial institution."

JPMorgan Chase had a credit regulation compliance division of its own. Harmer's division became redundant.

As far as the bonus, "It's compensation for work done - for a good job done ensuring the banks comply with the consumer protection," Clark said.

"We are conservatives," Clark said. "We believe in rewarding those who excel and get the job done."

Harmer, who earned $485,779 over the previous five quarters, and who lists hundreds of thousands of dollars in assets, then applied for unemployment compensation.

He took $2,395 in unemployment, his records say.

"He's paid into the system," Clark said.

To my mind, the critics who raised the issues about Harmer's compensation are missing the bigger point.

Whether or not Harmer was wrong to take the money, WaMu's failure also was the failure of unrestrained free-market capitalism.

Washington Mutual undid itself by reckless and predatory lending. Seeking to become "the Walmart of lenders," the bank went after lower-income borrowers, buying Providian and other subprime lenders.

It plunged greedily into a dubious market with products such as high-fee Adjustable Rate Mortgages. The result was the biggest bank failure in U.S. history. Legions of borrowers lost their homes. Shareholders were wiped out. The whole country was sucked into recession.

A good question for the four Republican candidates for the 11th District seat is whether they believe government has a role to play in regulating financial markets.

Harmer supports regulatory reform, but contends Democrats are perpetuating the problem by continuing to hold that some banks and big companies are "too big to fail."

Harmer would not only let private companies suffer the consequences of bad decisions, he wants to abolish Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, federal mortgage corporations that buy and securitize mortgages.

"He says we need to get taxpayers off the hook," Clark said.

That's all very well - unless you believe Harmer himself was bailed out.